Guest Entry: On Knowing When To Call It
Endure was my first entrepreneurial venture. I was naive, overconfident, and overly inspired by the success stories of “girlboss” entrepreneurs like Emily Weiss
By Anja Westhues, Founder of Cache Studio & former Founder of Endure Sport Nutrition
Hi, I’m Anja. I’m the founder of Cache Studio and was the founder of Endure Sport Nutrition.
Endure was my first entrepreneurial venture. I had the idea just after I turned 21. I was naive, overconfident, and overly inspired by the success stories of “girlboss” entrepreneurs like Emily Weiss and Ty Haney. I figured — if they could do it, so could I. So I didn’t think twice. I poured my measly savings into the business and whatever time I had off between college classes and my internship to work on it.
I made a thousand mistakes while building Endure. Wasted time. Wasted money. Took advice I shouldn’t have—and ignored the advice I should’ve taken. I didn't know what I didn’t know, and I didn’t stop long enough to figure it out.
I ran a Kickstarter campaign during my senior year that completely wore me out. It was exciting, but exhausting — physically, mentally, emotionally. When it ended – and was successful! – I was so burnt out. I was dealing with that for at least the six months that followed.
I kept going, but never as fully bought in as I’d been at the start. I explored other endeavors. Launched an agency once I graduated college. I kept telling myself I’d pick it back up fully someday – but that day just never really came.
I’ve been a huge runner since high school, and I’ve always felt like it’s informed my work style and ethic. I’m currently training for marathon number three. My last marathon was, frankly, terrible — I wanted to clock out by mile four (and had 22 to go…) My training hadn’t prepared me for the humid punch of a Parisian April. Every step felt like a fight, and my brain kept screaming to quit.
But here’s the thing: knowing when to call it is an underrated part of sport. And an underrated part of building a business. As an athlete and as an entrepreneur, if we listened to our minds every time… we’d never finish anything. Sometimes you have to be your own coach, your own pace-setter, your own gut check.
Sometimes, “calling it” is quitting. But sometimes, calling it is choosing to finish differently.
Ultimately, I didn’t give up at the Paris marathon… even though I really, really wanted to. And I gave up on Endure — even though I really, really didn’t want to.
You see, I’ve been building two brands simultaneously over the past year: Cache, my marketing agency. And Endure. And the reality is — both take energy. Both take heart. Both deserve commitment. And in order for Cache — the one with more traction, more momentum, and frankly, more of me right now — to continue to grow and succeed, I had to call it on Endure.
It wasn’t an easy decision. In fact, it’s one I resisted for a long time. There’s grief in letting go of something that once meant everything to you. But I’ve come to realize that calling it on Endure doesn’t mean it failed. It means I grew. It means I chose clarity over chaos. And it means I made space — for myself, for my energy, and for the things I truly want to build next.
In some ways, this is the end of something that’s been a huge part of my identity for years. But in others, it’s a beginning. A clearing. A reset. Space for Cache to keep growing and becoming what it’s meant to be. And space for me to grow right alongside it.
Thank you to Anja for graciously sharing her story!
Endure was one of the first design projects I worked on when I decided to take Citrus Diaries Studio full time. Anja and I had met years earlier over IG when we were both running wellness pages. She’s forever saved in my phone as the Singing Sweet Potato iykyk.
When the idea for Endure came to be I was so honored that she chose me to design the branding and packaging. That project gave me so much confidence in the fact that I made the right decision going full time with the studio.
While I’m sad to see Endure’s chapter close, the work that Anja is doing at Cache is so f*cking good it deserves her full attention. There are so many beautiful lessons we can take from knowing when to call it quits but most importantly, that it is always worth it to take a stab at an idea regardless of the end result.
xx,
Lauren (Hodgen)
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